[B]URLINGTON — One of five defendants charged in the killing a man at a homeless encampment last year has entered into a plea bargain with prosecutors.
Allison Gee, 26, will plead guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault in exchange for her testimony against her co-defendants, who all face second degree murder charges in the death of Amos Beede.
If the deal is approved by a judge, Gee would serve five years of a 15-year sentence before being released on indefinite probation. If Gee were to violate her probation, she could end up serving the remaining 10 years of her original sentence.
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George said Friday that Gee was offered the chance to be a witness for the state because of her age, lack of a previous criminal record and her level of involvement in the beating that led to Beede’s death.
George said she has been in touch with Beede’s family throughout the process, and they are aware of her office’s decision.
The other defendants: Erik Averill, 22, Jordan Paul, 22, Myia Barber, 23, and Amber Dennis, 30, have all pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.
Gee, Averill, Paul and Barber fled Vermont after the assault, and were later arrested in San Diego, California. All four acknowledged some level of involvement in the assault in interviews with law enforcement in California, though their stories conflict.
Dennis, who was originally interviewed by police in Vermont as a witness, was implicated by the other four defendants. She was subsequently arrested and pleaded not guilty.
Beede, 38, was a transgender man and a well known figure in the region’s homeless community. Police say he was in an escalating dispute with the defendants, all of whom were spending time at a homeless encampment in the Barge Canal area off Pine Street before he was killed.
Beede suffered multiple blunt force injuries to his face and head in the early morning attack on May 22. The defendants are accused of kicking and punching Beede, who died in the hospital several days after the attack.
In the plea agreement filing, Gee states that she initially hung back when her friends began beating Beede, but after Beede kicked her in the groin, she became angry and punched him several times in the head before kicking him several times while he was on the ground.
Gee’s plea agreement requires that she have no contact with the other defendants. All five defendants are being jailed pending the resolution of their cases.
A court hearing is scheduled for Monday on Gee’s plea agreement.
